Plainfield, NJ Filming & Production: Student Filming (2026)

Plainfield's film permit article, Chapter 9, Article 21, prices student filming in § 9:21-6(a)(5): a daily fee of $75 (per day) for nonprofit and student applicants, including filming on public land. The standard application costs $150 per day under § 9:21-6(a)(1). Lines (2) and (3) add a daily filming fee of $1,500 for a major motion picture with a budget over $5,000,000 and $250 for a film budget below $5,000,000, both on top of the permit fee. Line (4) adds $2,500 per day for filming on public land. Line (5) is the only one written for nonprofit and student applicants.

Section 9:21-1 supplies the nonprofit label: a film which is not sold or leased in whole or part, or not otherwise part of a commercial exchange, is a nonprofit film. The article's definition of filming covers commercial exchange, so that definition is what separates a classroom project from a commercial shoot. The definitions in § 9:23-2, written for the Plainfield Arts, Culture and Education Center article, describe an educational or student film as a not-for-profit film made by currently enrolled students under the sponsorship of an accredited school or institution of higher learning, evidenced by a letter on school letterhead signed by a school administrator, together with a certificate of insurance. That definition also states that student films are required to obtain a Plainfield filming permit at the Municipal Clerk's office.

Everything else in Article 21 still applies to a student crew. Permits are issued by the Municipal Clerk, one per location, and applications are due prior to five days before the shooting date (§ 9:21-2). Public land shoots carry the insurance, indemnity and bond requirements of § 9:21-3(b), and the Business Administrator can waive a requirement where strict compliance poses an unreasonable burden (§ 9:21-3(e)). Section 9:21-6(b) exempts the filming of news stories from the article.